Intentional Mistakes
by Amongst-Azarath
Summary: Hilary seems to be the only one noticing the little moments between Kai and Ray. She's not sure if they're intentional, but she's determined to find out. KaxRe.


_Ha. Another Beyblade. I'm currently watching S2, so I'm fangirling like I did a million years ago._

 _Okay, I had to convert this from new word to old word. It wouldn't let me upload, so apologies if it's mucked up the format (I don't think it has anyway :/)._

 _So this piece was inspired by something that I came across last week. It's a little story called 'Unspoken' by Sa-kun. Go read it. It's in my favs :)._

 _This is definitely not my best - the ends a little messy. But I'm impatient. So here you go._

 _Disclaimer: None of it is mine._

 _Enjoy it - but leave a review, cause that shiz makes me happy :)._

 _~Aa_

 _P.S - Plaits are like braids in oz and a Doona is a.. duvet? Quilt?_

* * *

 ** _Intentional Mistakes_**

She stands at the entrance to the Dojo, impatiently waiting for the others to return. She takes a quick glance at her watch. It had been more than three hours since they left on their wilderness training session. She had expected them to be back half an hour ago and was safe to say that she was beyond worried now. When the former Bladebreakers didn't return on time, she always expected the worst. She had stayed behind to prepare some lunch ready for their return, well equipped for Daichi and Tyson's typically never satisfied stomachs.

Just as she's about to turn and round up Tyson's grandpa, Max rounds the corner, entering through the large gateway. Her worry immediately fades, replaced with a fuming anger. Her hands shake into clenched fists as her eyes bulge, ready to let loose on someone, _or all of them._

"Where have you been?!" She's almost shouting. "You were due back here more than half an hour ago!" she berates, exaggerating her features and hands.

Max laughs a little as Daichi appears in the yard with Kenny. Hilary's eyes narrow as Max's chuckles and she's about to storm over when Kai piggybacking Ray and a solemn Tyson finally join them.

She pauses and her animated face is now the opposite. She's shocked, her eyes on Ray. "Ray, what happened?"

Max nudges Tyson in the side with an elbow. "Someone took a tumble down the side of a hill," the blonde light heartedly jokes. "He just took Ray with him."

Tyson sighs too loudly, obviously frustrated that he was becoming the butt of the joke. "I told you I was sorry!"

Ray chuckles lightly from his perch on Kai's back, a toothy smile on his lips. "It's alright, Tyson."

Daichi rolls his eyes as she strolls over to Hilary. "Ray banged up his ankle pretty bad," he points out, seeming uncharacteristically concerned. "Is lunch ready?"

Hilary brings a hand to her forehead in frustration. "Seriously?" she huffs.

The small red head put his palms to his stomach as if it just rumbled. "Yeah!" he whines loudly, "I'm starving!"

She points to the dojo, and he's already off, walking as fast as he can. Max chuckles again at Daichi's lack of consideration before following after him, shaking his head.

"Ray, I'm really sorry, I didn't-"

Ray cuts him off Tyson with a palm. "Tyson, it's okay," he repeats with that typical calmness that he seems to exurb no matter the situation. "Accidents happen."

Tyson is about to pipe up again, but Kai's already onto it. "What's done is done," his voice is stern, "get some lunch, Tyson."

The young blue haired blader drops his head in shame as he trudges past Hilary and into the dojo.

She looks back to the two older teens of the group as Kai makes his way to the dojo, seemingly carrying Ray with ease. Ray's arms are wrapped tightly around the Russian's neck. She notes his shoeless right foot, bandaged properly in a white fabric. Kai's arms are wrapped tightly around the Chinese teens thighs and they both look too comfortable – especially Kai, that typical angry scowl not present on his face.

Kai sweeps past the brunette, the tips of his scarf calmly waving slightly as he walks. She turns to follow the two stragglers, stepping up onto the veranda. Her eyes stay glued on the Russian and the Chinese, particularly on the Russian. She notices the tips of Kai's scarf are uneven – something she has never seen before. She inspects a little closer and realises that it's been ripped. She looks to Ray's bandaged ankle. Her mouth parts realising the two fabrics are the same.

Kai only touched that scarf in battle. He wouldn't waste his famous scarf on a small ankle strain, _would he?_

The next morning Hilary notices Ray walking around quite freely, still sporting a bandage though. She doesn't think too much of it, but she can't shake the thought of how comfortable the two looked yesterday, particularly Kai.

 _888_

Her eyes have the perfect view of the two older teens. Kai sits perfectly crossed legged, his reflection stoically looking back at him. In his hand is his priceless pot of royal blue face paint. His right hand carefully dabbles a brush into the precious pot. Swiftly and effortlessly, he paints perfect strokes across his cheek in a clearly over practised routine.

Ray sits next to him, crossed legged too. His long hair, hidden already in white fabric, cascading over his left shoulder, pooling in his lap. He fiddles with the small tassel of hair at the base of his hidden plait, tucking in the stray hairs that he had managed to brush over. He looks over to his Russian team mate, letting his perfectly done hair drop back into his lap. He watches intently as Kai continues his routine – dab, brush, brush.. dab, brush, pause for a look, dab.

Kai takes a quick glance at Ray in the mirror before he repeats his routine once more.

He finally sets the brush beside him, a signal that he has completed his task. Ray quickly passes him the lid, to which he takes with no word in response. His mahogany eyes delve into his pot as he screws the lid on. Unbeknownst to him, Ray brushes a thumb against his tongue and goes for Kai's neck.

Kai, preoccupied by placing his prized paint pot back into his toiletry bag, doesn't even flinch as Ray's thumb brushes the tender skin under his jawline. He waits patiently as Ray's thumb goes back for a second wipe, removing a mark of blue paint he had failed to pick up on.

The sudden thought of Kai purposely making the mistake hits her like a tonne of bricks. The Russian was a perfectionist, not only that, he had been doing those blue shark fins for years – ever since she had known him. It wasn't possible for him to make a stupid mistake like that, was it?

The Russian doesn't bother to look in the mirror, uncaring to check whether Ray had removed all of his mistakes. He gets to his feet, placing his brush in his toiletry bag before shoving the dark blue bag to the side.

She wasn't sure if Kai was brushing Ray off, or if he trusted Ray enough to fix his little mistake. She wasn't even sure if Kai _accidentally_ made the mistake.

Ray gets to his feet now too, and she takes that as a sign to retreat. She slides back into her room, pressing her body to wall behind the door. She's hears footsteps pass her door followed closely by a set of lighter footsteps, who she definitely knows is Ray. Their presence fades and she's left all alone.

She couldn't help but question – were they closer than she thought?

 _888_

Hilary blinked a few times. How long had she been out for? It obviously isn't dinner time, since Ray hadn't woken her up, and obviously Tyson are still out with Daichi and Max, since he hadn't woken her up either. She swipes a hand across both her eyes, wiping away any tiredness. She sits up and lets the soles of her feet touch the floor. She's about to stand when a faint voice murmurs through the silence. She could've sworn she remembered Kai disappearing this morning, so it would only leave the possibility of Ray or Kenny left in the apartment.

She gets to her feet, padding across the carpet on the balls of her feet. She pokes her head out the door, enough to get a glimpse of where the faint noises are coming from. Her head sinks back into her room a little realising it's Kai and Ray in their room at the end of the hall.

Ray has his back pressed up against the Russian's bed. His legs are stretched out, Kai's small sleek laptop resting on his thighs. The keys click faintly as his digits quickly brush over the keys.

Kai lays on his bed, his back pressed against his perfectly made doona. His knees are bent as the soles of his feet press against his doona. His hands fidget in front of him flicking over something so quickly, she can't even make out what it is.

She narrows her eyes, as if it'll help her see better, or at least make out what Kai's playing with.

"What's the real name for those Russian dolls?" Ray breaks the silence, inquisitively looking at the bright screen in front of him.

"матрёшка."

Ray raises an eyebrow. "Uh," he drawls unsurely, "how do you spell that?

"M-a-t-r-y-o-s-h-k-a," the Russian monotonously recites the letters.

The Chinese teen cocks his head to the side after keying in the letters. "What does Babushka mean then?"

"Grandmother," the Russian pauses before adding, "or old woman."

Kai brings his hands into the light for a moment. His hands are carefully weaving Ray's raven hair into a plait. She watches absorbedly, completely bewildered. He looks apathetic as his hands and fingers fold and intertwine amongst the long black hair.

Ray gives his computer screen a weird look. "It's too long."

Kai's head turns sideways to glimpse at the screen. "Try nesting," he suggests, still tugging on the Chinese teens hair.

Ray's fingers quickly click against the keys again. His computer lets out a series of celebratory dings and Ray beams at the sound, his toothy canines on show. He distortedly turns his body to get a view of the dual haired teen.

"That makes no sense," Kai sighs. "No one calls them that."

Ray smirks at his annoyance. "Why does everyone call them Babushka dolls?"

Kai shrugs as much as he can laying down. His hand drops to Chinese teens mop, gently running a few fingers through his thick black tresses. "Just confusion in translation, I guess."

Ray closes his eyes for a moment, seemingly enjoying the Russian's touch. Her eyes go large as she watches Kai continue to stroke Ray like a cat, who seems to be totally enjoying it. She couldn't help but reignite that question she had been refusing to ask. Were Kai and Ray.. together?

The couple like moment is ruined as she hears a crash from down stairs. There's instant chatter from the returning team members that fills the apartment. She watches as Ray shuts his laptop, shoves it under Kai's bed and gets to his feet. He slinks out of the room, taking a moment to look back at the Russian. Hilary quickly ducks back into her room and practically dives onto her bed.

"HILARYYYY!"

 _888_

She huffs as she spins on her heel, her anger flaring. She had been waiting in line for the bathroom for over ten minutes. How four people could possibly engage all four toilets for over ten minutes was mind boggling to her. She storms her way back down the aisle, hurriedly passing her seat with a loudly snoring Tyson next to it and a frantically typing Kenny beside him.

She catches sight of Hiro a few rows down, who is out cold, peacefully passed out in his laid back chair, the small airline pillow clasped tightly in his hand. She can't help expressing a small smile at his serene sleeping, despite still trying to smother her anger at the lack of toilets available.

Her storming fades as she continues down the aisle. She can see a green light clearly signally above the free bathroom at the rear of the plane. She thanks the lord for her sudden stroke of luck and prays that no one leaps out of their seats in front of her.

She sees the familiar mop of two toned hair as she approaches the end of the aisle. She had wondered where he had been seated. She kind of hoped he was asleep. As much as she adored Kai, he wasn't the best person to hold a conversation with, especially on a cramped plane.

She pauses, almost tripping over her own feet, completely thrown by the sight in front of her.

There's a head on Kai's shoulder – and it belongs to Ray. There's a hand on Kai's thigh – and it belongs to Ray.

The Russian seems to be asleep, head cocked to the side, resting precariously against his seat. His body lays diagonally in the seat, his left knee bent and his right leg stretches out into the next seats legs space. Ray is curled up, covered by the dull grey airline blanket, his head nuzzled into the Russian's shoulder, completely messing up Kai's dark grey tee.

Her eyes instantly go back to that hand. Ray's slender arm had snuck out of his grey blanket, and nonchalantly found itself sprawled across the Russians thigh.

The people around her must think she's a deranged lunatic by the way she's starring at the two sleeping teens. She just couldn't tear her eyes aware from that hand.

She feels the plane shift slightly as it rocks from side to side slightly less than smooth. She sees the Chinese teen stir beneath his blanket and she practically sprints to the toilet. She hears the faint ding of the seat belt sign as she fumbles her way into the bathroom, almost slamming the door behind her. Her hand whips over the lock, sliding it across quickly. Still shocked, she presses her forehead to the door. She can't let that image escape her as she tried to rid that question form her mind. It couldn't be possible. They couldn't be together. No way.

 _888_

She's fumbling around in the kitchen. She promised Ray she would cook for everyone this morning. He had been tirelessly cooking for the troop for the past two weeks, and had been humble and gracious the whole time. A collection of pancakes, eggs, toast, bacon, mushrooms and muesli weren't so difficult to whip up, right?

Kai is suddenly in the kitchen, flicking the kettle as he walks by Hilary to the automated coffee machine.

"Morning!" Hilary beams as she digs a spoon into her batter filled bowl.

Kai doesn't respond as he turns his attention to the coffee machine. Unbothered by his lack of social interaction, she continues to fumble her way through the kitchen, grabbing a pan and putting it on the stove. By the time she's done prepping the pan, Kai has already prepared two long blacks, one for himself, the other presumably for Hiro, which he leaves sitting on the bench. He swoops back past Hilary back to the kettle with a mug in hand, a teabag paper dangling over its side.

She notes he's not properly dressed yet, which probably means Ray is still asleep. As he pours the boiling water into the cup she takes in his attire; a plain black tee and black pants. Black pants. Black. She frowns as she pours the first batch of batter into the pan.

Not that she was a creep and kept on top of Kai's wardrobe, but she never remembered him wearing black cuffed pants. Jeans, once or twice, but not pants. But these bore a resemblance to Ray's black pants. Her eyes go wide. The thick band around the ankles. Elastic waist. The size was off – a little too baggy around the hips and thighs. Were they Ray's pants?

"Hilary," Kai's hard voice breaks her train of thought, "I think the pan's too hot."

She looks down at her pancakes sizzling away, bubbling ridiculously. She turns it down. "Sorry," she responds, completely distracted still.

Kai frowns at her response, aware of her lack of concentration.

She needs confirmation. She knew she couldn't ask him straight out. The Russian was unpredictable at the best of times. She had seen Kai in battle mode and she definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

"Is Ray awake?" She blurts out. She turns to face him, but he's already out the door, a mug in each hand.

Kai turns back to her raising the mug with the tea bag paper hanging out the side. He spins back, disappearing into the hall. Did that mean he was awake? That would mean Ray was well aware that Kai had put on the wrong pants. Did they both know that Kai was walking into a kitchen where she was present, with Ray's pants on?

She grabs a utensil from a floating stand connected to the wall behind the stove. She slides it beneath the pancake and swiftly flips it over.

She shakes her head at her swimming thoughts. Did they not think that she would notice? Or did they mean for her to take note? Did they want her to know? Were they sick of hiding it? Did they even care?

She slides the utensil beneath the pancake and carefully pulls it from the pan. Tentatively, she lets the pancake fall from her utensil and onto the plain plate.

She thought she needed to know before, but she definitely needed to know now. They had been teasing in front of her for months. It was like they knew something she didn't, and she hated not knowing.

 _888_

Her eyes look over the photo with fondness and she can't help but smile at the touching photo. It's a group shot. Daichi is fumbling over Tyson who looks furious; Max is laughing beside them and Kenny is shaking his head in disapproval in the front. At the back stands Ray with a soft smile on his lips and next to him is Kai, serious as always.

Her hands flip the photo to the back and she almost chokes on her breath at the sight of the next photograph.

It's a single photo of Kai – and his stoic expression isn't present. He doesn't look apathetic, he looks – she can't quite describe it, pensive maybe and then mix that with – wait. He looked present. He was all there. He wasn't glazed over or worldly. He was just there, looking directly into the camera. It was an engrossing candid shot of him. It was probably the least guarded she had ever seen him. His almost permanent shark fins weren't present. He was dressed casually, black tee and jeans and barefoot.

It must've been taken at the dojo, but she can't recognise the unfocused background. She squints and brings her face closer to the photograph, trying to make out a shape or something. She makes out a house faintly in the background. Its roof is sweeping. Chinese. This had been taken in China.

There's a cough from behind her and she feels her stomach drop. She shouldn't be here. She spins. It's Kai.

"What are you doing in here?" His voice is calm, but hard.

She can't speak looking at him. His look is murderous, boring into her eyes with ferocious intensity. She drops her line of sight to the floor. She instantly regrets deciding to take a quick search through their room. She thought she could get in and out before they got home.

"Hilary."

She swallows. "I was just," she fumbles over her words, "putting some-" she pauses, realising she's not giving him a valid excuse or making any sense.

"Was just what?" He quickly retorts venomously, making her look up. His looks hasn't changed, actually it's probably even worse now.

"I-" she begins but she can't come up with anything.

He looks down to her hands and notices her fingers gripping tightly onto something. His eyebrows furrow, his eyes narrowing as he does so. "What's in your hand?"

Nervously, she thrusts the small pictures towards him.

He snatches them from her hands. His eyes wander over the photographs. His expression doesn't change, not bothered by them in the slightest.

"These are _Ray's_ ," his tone is dark.

It finally hits her. She had been so caught up in crazy brain mode she hadn't realised what she was doing. She went against something that Kai holds to his heart so dearly. His privacy.

She nods slowly. "Why were you looking through his belongings?"

She knows it's not an excuse. "I just wanted to know.." the words are tumbling out of her now.

"Hilary," he warns, seeming moments away from exploding, "I'm running out of patience."

She doesn't speak. The guilt is swirling around in her gut like a bad meal. She feels so nauseous "Why are in you in our room?"

She wasn't sure if that was a mistake on his part, or he just didn't care anymore. " _Our_?" She repeats out loud, her expression confused, but it comes out with accidental sass.

"Excuse me?" Kai retorts, both eyebrows raised.

She slaps a hand over her mouth. She closes her eyes for a moment before she swallows. She just has to say it. Her eyes fling open with a new found courage. "I just keep seeing you and Ray.. doing things together.."

She looks him dead in the eye. He doesn't explode like she had expected him to. Instead, he's got one eyebrow raised, looking a little confused. "Am I not allowed to do things with people?"

She frowns, feeling anger replace the guilt in her gut. She bites back a habitual venomous response. She decides to counter him with something different. After all, she had started this whole mess. "That photograph of you," her voice is low and soft, "is really beautiful."

His forehead creases as he cocks his head slightly to the side. "Thank you."

She almost falls over at the fact he just acknowledged her compliment – and then she probably should of considering Ray's now in the room, his frame standing next to Kai. He looks totally confused. "What's going on?"

Kai immediately passes him the photographs. Ray's mouth parts slightly. He doesn't look shocked, more so disappointed. He looks up at her. "You're the last person I would expect to go searching through my personal belongings, Hilary."

Now she feels the pang of guilt back inside of her. "I just wanted to know -"

"-If we're gay?" Kai finishes it for her bluntly. He makes it sound so petty. She bows her, feeling ashamed for making such a big ordeal.

Ray nudges him in the side with the tip of his elbow, before giving him a disapproving look.

She swallows again and nods.

"Why didn't you ask?"

She looks up at him, dumbfounded for a moment. "What?"

"Why didn't you ask?" Ray repeats his words, seeming way too casual.

She's completely thrown by Ray's response. "I didn't think it was polite just going around asking people if they're gay!"

"And you think its polite going through peoples things?" The Russian counters, a faint smirk playing on his lips. _Touché._

She shoots Kai an icy look. She looks back to Ray, who also seems to be amused. Now she was totally confused. Was she involved in some kind of joke? Had Kai been toying with her the whole time? And then for the final time during their confrontation, she has her last epiphany. She finally realises, they don't care. Not one bit.

She pauses for a moment, putting herself back together. She should've said this at the beginning. "You two," she grins, "look so cute together."

Ray blushes but Kai's already reacting, brushing off her compliment. "You have five seconds to get out of here."

She shuffles past them, a faint smile on her face. "Hilary, meet us outside in a few minutes," Kai's voice is hard. "You're joining training today."


End file.
